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The Elephant in the Living Room has to be one of the best documentaries made in the last 20 years. Forget about the Michael Moore's of the film industry. There are no slanted facts and slick editing in this movie. What you will see is documentary film making at its finest.

Both sides of the argument are presented here with compassion and true human emotion. From the outreach officer who, despite having had a tiger cub in his youth, seeks to provide safety for those in his state... to the troubled but warm-hearted man who fights depression with the help of his 4 year old lion who he sees as a son. If you have ever owned a pet, you will see so clearly and so poignantly where each of these men derive their passion from. This film does not seek to make either "camp" look bizarre or extremist, but presents the story with depth, truth, and palpable human emotion.

After watching the scenes where exotic pets are auctioned or sold at large markets, I found myself mesmerized and horrified. The depravity of human nature is striking and nauseating. A small child carrying an alligator, which his parents have bought for him, makes for an unforgettable scene. Monkeys, cougars, and hyenas being auctioned off in the heart of Amish country is yet another disgustingly haunting image. Contrast that with the gentleman mentioned above, who fights to keep the lions that he raises from birth, despite knowing that he can live neither with them nor without them.

This underground industry in America is exposed to the cruel light of day by The Elephant in the Living Room. And while the conclusion of the film is hopeful, the unsolvable problem created by human fascination, psychiatric illness, and greed leaves me concerned about the nightmares that will follow viewing this film. This movie is a compassionately and well made film that presents both sides of a tragic situation with care. The animals are indeed stunning and beautiful, its easy to understand why people fight to keep them as pets and family members.

In sum, this film is tragic, beautiful, compassionate, emotional, striking, devastating, and yet hopeful. I would HIGHLY recommend this film to anyone who appreciates well made movies that make you think about the state of the world we live in.

This project is quite a testament to the power of documentary cinema, introducing us to an intensely interesting story and intensely interesting characters--more compelling than almost anything found in most fictional film. Exotic animal ownership has become such a volatile topic that almost anyone focusing principally on one situation risks being accused of pronouncing judgment on the wider topic. But director Michael Webber tries, to the extent possible, to maintain objectivity and to steer clear of the wider pronouncement. Exotic animal owners have turned their cause into a civil rights issue. And traders, breeders, and profiteers have amplified that narrative to advance their own interests. On the one hand, as with gun ownership, that combination of circumstances produces a very undesirable situation in the U.S. On the other hand, the statistics prove that, left to government, industry, and the general public, some of the most majestic wild animals on earth will not be preserved and protected.

Somewhere between species extinction and household ownership of exotic animals live a few soldiers whose job it is to try to make a bad situation as good as it can be. That's where this story takes place. And Webber couldn't have found a more compelling soldier than Tim Harrison--tough but empathetic, forceful but soft-spoken, highly complex but down-to-earth. Put him together with Terry, an intriguing animal owner in Ohio and his beautiful African lions, and you have a pensive documentary that always respects its characters and subject, as well as a wonder-filled story, worth watching and re-watching, that gives us all plenty of food for thought long after the film has ended. The Elephant in the Living Room thoughtfully explores proper placement of the line between wild animals and people. But make no mistake, this isn't a scholarly tome. The filmmakers will take you on an emotional journey that will shake you--at times pleasantly and at times not. Perhaps the most instructive part of that journey is realizing that, when trying to help animals, there is often emotional pain. And our protagonists must accept in this situation, as with life, that they can solve certain problems but must also learn to live with unsolved problems.

Webber's selection of one problem-ridden case study could be (has been) criticized as advocating a position, but he also chooses not to address many problems common to owners, traders, and communities in the world of exotic animals. Ideologues on both sides may well interpret the film and its neutrality as hostility to their side. But Webber, despite slowly revealing a point of view, gives his viewers sufficient room to draw their own conclusions. One critic on this webpage, in addition to an excessive and ultra-biased critique, describes the human relationships portrayed in the story as cheesy. Tim and Terry may be imperfect individuals, but there's nothing remotely inauthentic or cheesy about either of them or the unlikely partnership that grows between the two. To fail to understand THAT is to miss a major component of the story and to show a deficit of insight into the human animal. This is a film about a true story; by definition, it's a documentary. One may not like the facts presented, but that in no way makes the film animal rights "propaganda."

This movie is crazy but important. Read the one-star reviews (written by supporters of keeping wild animals) and then watch the movie. The disgusting guy they picked as the proponent was a perfect illustration of the kind of people who keep these animals. Deeply ignorant, often mentally ill, filthy in hygiene and living environment (for them AND their animals). Hidden camera footage showing HUNDREDS of red-necks at multiple trade-shows to buy these animals. Then the animals are kept in cruel environments....perfectly legally?!?! It's like those people who keep reptiles and try to tell you their snake "knows them". This guy looks at his lions living in abject filth and cruelty and talks about how much he loves them. It's sick.

There are not 2 sides to this issue. Keeping wild animals is completely ridiculous and needs to be outlawed.

The law man on the other side of the issue comes off a little weird too, but maybe that's because the film makers are trying to make a ridiculously obvious issue into a balanced 2-sided discussion.

Bought this disc to add to my dvd collection after seeing the film randomly late one night. It moves like a normal documentary, then out of nowhere like a 1/3 the way in the story becomes all about Lambert the Lion, and boy will you be glad it does as it it becomes quite the heart felt journey of the Lion and it's owner for the rest of the film.

SPOILER!Wait until AFTER the film is over, then google the owner, and read the tragic happenings like a year later after the filming.. And from watching the emotions in the film, you will be left wondering if what happened to him was deliberate or intentional.